Chapter 31: American Life in the "Roaring Twenties"
Identifications
A. Mitchell Palmer
Alexander Mitchell Palmer was the Attorney General from 1919 to 1921. He directed the Palmer Raids. He also served as the delegate at the Democratic National Convention during the years of 1912 and 1916.
John T. Scopes
John T. Scopes was a teacher who violated the Butler Act. He taught evolution in Tennessee which was against religion. He was convicted in the Scopes Trial which raised controversy over this subject.
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow was an American lawyer who defended John T. Scopes. He opposed William Jennings Bryan and won. He was one of the most famous lawyers of his time and was known for his agnosticism.
Andrew Mellon
Andrew Mellon was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist. He was the Secretary of the Treasury and was known to be the second best after Alexander Hamilton. He was Secretary of the Treasure for President Herbert Hoover.
Frederick W. Taylor
Frederick Winslow Taylor was mechanical an engineer who improved efficiency in the industry. He is regarded as the Father of scientific management. He was the leader of the Efficiency Movement and was a big influence during the Progressive Era.
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger was an birth control activist, sex educator, and nurse. She was the first to open to birth control clinic and established Planned Parenthood. She was an iconic figure in the American reproductive rights movement.
H. L. Mencken
He was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, and critic of American life and culture. He was known as the Sage of Baltimore and once of the famous prose stylists of the twentieth century.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
He was an American author of novels an short stories that focused on the Jazz Age. He was one of the great writers of the 20th century and was known for his books, This side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, and the Great Gatsby.
Ernest Hemingway
He was an American author and journalist. His style influenced fiction in the 20th century. He produced many works and won the Nobel Prize in 1954. He also had many of this works published posthumously.
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short story write and playwright. He was the first writer to be awards the Nobel Prize in Literature. His works were critical of American society and of capitalist values.
Buying on Margin
A margin was a financial instrument to cover up credit risk. It is used for borrowed ash, financial instruments, and a derivative contract.
Red Scare
The Read Scare is when people were afraid of communism. It was about the socialist revolution and political radicalism. The second red scare focused on national and foreign communist in the government.
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Ferdinando Sacc and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a robbery of a shoe factory. They were executed after a trial on August, 23, 1927
Emergency Quota Act 1921
The Emergency Quota Act is also known as the Emergency Immigration Act. It restricted immigration for any amount of time and limited it to 2%. Only people from Northern Europe had a chance to get in.
Immigration Quota Act 1924
This was also known as the John-Reed Act. It included the Asian Exclusion Act and the National Origins Act. It was enacted on May 26, 1924. It superseded the Emergency Quota Act aimed at Jews.
Volstead Act
This was also known as the National Prohibition Act. It was enacted after the 19th Amendment. It was named after Andrew Volstead who was an active advocator of the Prohibition movement.
Fundamentalism
This was against Modernism. It was used to promote continuity and accuracy. It followed a strict set of rules and developed in the Protestant community of the US in the early part of the 20th century.
Modernists
This was a time in the US and Europe where people were opposed to traditional styles and values in literature. Many experimented with new kinds of literature and styles against traditional ways.
Guided Reading Questions
Seeing Red
Know: Billy Sunday, Red Scare, A. Mitchell Palmer, Sacco and Vanzetti
1. Cite examples of actions taken in reaction to the perceived threat of radicals and communists during the red scare.
In reaction to the perceived threat of radicals and communists during the red scare, there was a nationwide crusade against suspected left-wingers. Attorney General A. Mitchell especially rounded up many suspects. In December 1919, a shipload of 249 alleged alien radicals was deported on the Buford to Russia. In 1919-1920, a number of state legislatures passed criminal syndicalism laws. These anti-red statures made the advocacy of violence to secure social change illegal. During the red scare, conservative business people attacked labor unions, calling them “Sovietism in disguise.” There was also judicial lynching. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two Italians convicted of murder. Although the evidence for this was weak, they were found guilty and sentenced to death. This case shows the anti-redism and antiforeignism of the time.
Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK
2. Compare and contrast the new and old Ku Klux Klansmen.
A new Ku Klux Klan emerged in the early 1920s. It more closely resembled the anti-foreign “nativists” movements of the 1850s than the anti-black nightriders of the 1860s. This new Ku Klux Klan was anti-foreign, anti-Catholic, anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-pacifist, anti-Communist, anti-internationalist, anti-revolutionist, anti-bootlegger, antigambling, anti-adultery, and anti-birth control. It was also pro-Anglo-Saxon, pro-“native” American, and pro-Protestant.
Stemming the Foreign Flood
Know: Emergency Quota Act, Immigration Act
3. Describe the immigration laws passed in the 1920's.
Immigrants began flooding into America after the end of World War I. However, isolationist America had little use for them. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 restricted newcomers from Europe to a definite quota, which was set at 3 percent of the people of their nationality who had been living in the United States in 1910. This legislation was replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924, which cut Quotes for foreigners from 3 percent to 2 percent. This act marked the end of a period of virtually unrestricted immigration.
Makers of America: The Poles
Know: Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, Austrian Poles, American Warsaw
4. What factors led Poles to America?
The Poles were the largest groups to immigrate to American because labor was badly needed after the Civil War. First Poles came from James town. The Poles came in the late nineteenth century to escape from starvation and earn money to buy land. Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, and Austrian Poles were persecuted and escaped to America for religious freedom. Propaganda and transportation also made many poles come to the US.
The Prohibition "Experiment"
Know: Eighteenth Amendment, Volstead Act, Wet and Dry, Speakeasies, Home Brew, Bathtub Gin, Noble Experiment
5. How and why was the eighteenth amendment broken so frequently?
The Eighteenth Amendment, implemented by the Volstead Act, prohibited the consumption and sale of alcohol. This abolition of alcohol was popular in the South and the West. However, there was strong opposition in larger eastern cities. For many foreign-born people, social gatherings were centered on drinking. Assuming that the prohibition had come to stay, many Americans indulged in last wild flings. The Eighteenth Amendment was broken frequently because of the American tradition of strong drink and of weak control by the central government. The federal authorities never satisfactorily enforced a law where the majority of people were hostile to it. Prohibition was not effectively enforced. Many Americans were still drinking liquor and much alcohol was being smuggled into America from other countries.
The Golden Age of Gangsterism
Know: Al Capone, St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Lindbergh Law
6. What was Gangsterism?
Prohibition spawned shocking crimes and gangsterism emerged. Police made many profits from bribes for drink illegal alcohol. This started violent wars in cities between rival gangs. Arrests were few and convictions were even fewer. Chicago was home to Al Capone, a violent booze distributor. He made millions and had to walk around in an armor plated car with bulletproof windows. He was public Enemy Number 1 but he was not convicted on the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. Crimes got so bad that Congress had to pass the Lindbergh Law which made interstate abduction a death-penalty.
Monkey Business in Tennessee
Know: John Dewey, John T. Scopes, William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow
7. Describe the clash of cultures that took place in schools in the 1920's.
Biology and theology clashed in schools in the 1920’s. Fundamentalists, devoted religionists, were hostile to both science and progressive education. They charged that some of the science teachings were destroying faith in God and the Bible, while contributing to the moral breakdown of youth in the jazz age. They attempted to secure laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution. Three states adopted such laws.
The Mass-Consumption Economy
Know: Andrew Mellon, The Man Nobody Knows, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey
8. Give evidence to prove that America became a mass-consumption economy in the 20's.
Great new industries sprouted forth in the 1920’s. Supplying electrical power for new machines became a giant business at the time. Automobiles became the normal means of transportation. Advertisement of commercial goods became common. Advertisers sought to make Americans chronically discontented with their possessions and want more, more, more. Sports also became big business in the consumer economy of the 1920s. Buying on credit was another innovative feature of the postwar economy. People began buying all sorts of new products such as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and radios.
Putting America on Rubber Tires
Know: Henry Ford, Frederick W. Taylor, Model T
9. What methods made it possible to mass-produce automobiles?
Assembly line methods and mass production techniques allowed for mass production of automobiles. Americans first adapted the gasoline engine. By the 1890s, several American inventors and promoters developed the new automotive industry. By 1910, there were 69 car companies that produced about 181,000 automobiles a year. At first the method of producing cars was slow and unreliable. However, an enormous industry sprand into being as Detroit became the motorcar capital of America. Frederick W. Taylor developed techniques that saved time and eliminated wasted motion. Henry Ford’s Model T was cheap, rugged, and reasonably priced. Ford was able to mass produce Model T using the techniques of assembly-line production, or “Fordism.”
The Advent of the Gasoline Age
10. What were the effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile?
With the widespread adoption of the automobile was the emergence of a gigantic new industry. This new automobile industry employed about 6 million people and was the major wellspring of the nation’s prosperity. Thousands of new jobs were available by supporting industries such as rubber, glass, favrics, high way construction, and service stations and garages. America’s standard of living also increased. New industries also boomed, such as the petroleum business. However, the railroad industry suffered from the widespread adoption of the automobile. Speedy marketing of perishable foodstuffs was accelerated. Farms prospered, food prices were low and reasonable, and new roads were built. Motorcars became a necessity to travel. There was more time for leisure, isolation among sections were broken down, and women became less dependent on men.
Humans Develop Wings
Know: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh
11. What effects did the early airplane have on America?
Early airplanes led to aircraft which was invented by Orville and Wilbur Wright. They were also used in wars and airmail. Charles A Lindbergh was the first person to fly across the Atlantic from New York To Paris. Airship led to easier air travel. The airship also provided the restless American spirit with yet another dimension. It also gave birth to a giant new industry.
The Radio Revolution
12. How did America change as the result of the radio?
The radio innovated long-range communication during World War 1. Next came the voice radio which led to radio stations such KDKA to broadcast news. It also made families come closer to listen to the radio every night. Sports and Politicians now advertised through the radio.
Hollywood's Filmland Fantasies
Know: The Great Train Robbery, The Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer
13. What were some milestones in the history of motion pictures?
Thomas Edison invented the movie in the 1890s. The real birth of movie came in 1903 when the melodrama, The Great Train Robbery, was showing in theatre. This also led to the movie, The Birth of a Nation, which glorified the KKK. Southern California quickly became the movie capital of the World.
The Dynamic Decade
Know: Margaret Sanger, Flappers, Sigmund Freud, Jelly Roll Morton, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey
14. "Far-reaching changes in lifestyles and values paralleled the dramatic upsurge in the economy." Explain.
Americans no longer lived in countryside but more in urban areas. Women found opportunists in cities such as retail clerking and office typing. Margaret Sanger was a feminist that organized birth-control. Alice Paul National Woman’s party started in 1923 to get equal rights for women. Flappers were involved with the erotic eruptions. Sigmund Freud said sex was responsible to health and liberation.
Cultural Liberation
Know: H. L. Mencken, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, e.e. cummings, Eugene O'Neill, Louis Armstrong, Frank Lloyd Wright
15. How did the arts of the 1920's reflect the times?
1920s was a time where the old generation died. New novelists became more popular. HL. Mencken was a young author who attacked puritans. F Scott Fitzgerald was an overnight celebrity because of his book, The Great Gatsby. Ernest Hemingway wrote about the war as well as William Faulkner. Eugene Oneil won the Nobel Prize for his notions about sex.
Wall Street's Big Bull Market
Know: Margin, Andrew Mellon
16. Was government economic policy successful in the 20's?
The stock exchange increased speculation and boom-or-bust trading. People bought stocks with margins or small down payments. They could win up to a quarter of a million dollars. Andrew Mellon helped created a series of tax reductions that repealed many taxes. He was called the great treasurer after Hamilton.
A. Mitchell Palmer
Alexander Mitchell Palmer was the Attorney General from 1919 to 1921. He directed the Palmer Raids. He also served as the delegate at the Democratic National Convention during the years of 1912 and 1916.
John T. Scopes
John T. Scopes was a teacher who violated the Butler Act. He taught evolution in Tennessee which was against religion. He was convicted in the Scopes Trial which raised controversy over this subject.
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow was an American lawyer who defended John T. Scopes. He opposed William Jennings Bryan and won. He was one of the most famous lawyers of his time and was known for his agnosticism.
Andrew Mellon
Andrew Mellon was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist. He was the Secretary of the Treasury and was known to be the second best after Alexander Hamilton. He was Secretary of the Treasure for President Herbert Hoover.
Frederick W. Taylor
Frederick Winslow Taylor was mechanical an engineer who improved efficiency in the industry. He is regarded as the Father of scientific management. He was the leader of the Efficiency Movement and was a big influence during the Progressive Era.
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger was an birth control activist, sex educator, and nurse. She was the first to open to birth control clinic and established Planned Parenthood. She was an iconic figure in the American reproductive rights movement.
H. L. Mencken
He was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, and critic of American life and culture. He was known as the Sage of Baltimore and once of the famous prose stylists of the twentieth century.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
He was an American author of novels an short stories that focused on the Jazz Age. He was one of the great writers of the 20th century and was known for his books, This side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, and the Great Gatsby.
Ernest Hemingway
He was an American author and journalist. His style influenced fiction in the 20th century. He produced many works and won the Nobel Prize in 1954. He also had many of this works published posthumously.
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short story write and playwright. He was the first writer to be awards the Nobel Prize in Literature. His works were critical of American society and of capitalist values.
Buying on Margin
A margin was a financial instrument to cover up credit risk. It is used for borrowed ash, financial instruments, and a derivative contract.
Red Scare
The Read Scare is when people were afraid of communism. It was about the socialist revolution and political radicalism. The second red scare focused on national and foreign communist in the government.
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Ferdinando Sacc and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a robbery of a shoe factory. They were executed after a trial on August, 23, 1927
Emergency Quota Act 1921
The Emergency Quota Act is also known as the Emergency Immigration Act. It restricted immigration for any amount of time and limited it to 2%. Only people from Northern Europe had a chance to get in.
Immigration Quota Act 1924
This was also known as the John-Reed Act. It included the Asian Exclusion Act and the National Origins Act. It was enacted on May 26, 1924. It superseded the Emergency Quota Act aimed at Jews.
Volstead Act
This was also known as the National Prohibition Act. It was enacted after the 19th Amendment. It was named after Andrew Volstead who was an active advocator of the Prohibition movement.
Fundamentalism
This was against Modernism. It was used to promote continuity and accuracy. It followed a strict set of rules and developed in the Protestant community of the US in the early part of the 20th century.
Modernists
This was a time in the US and Europe where people were opposed to traditional styles and values in literature. Many experimented with new kinds of literature and styles against traditional ways.
Guided Reading Questions
Seeing Red
Know: Billy Sunday, Red Scare, A. Mitchell Palmer, Sacco and Vanzetti
1. Cite examples of actions taken in reaction to the perceived threat of radicals and communists during the red scare.
In reaction to the perceived threat of radicals and communists during the red scare, there was a nationwide crusade against suspected left-wingers. Attorney General A. Mitchell especially rounded up many suspects. In December 1919, a shipload of 249 alleged alien radicals was deported on the Buford to Russia. In 1919-1920, a number of state legislatures passed criminal syndicalism laws. These anti-red statures made the advocacy of violence to secure social change illegal. During the red scare, conservative business people attacked labor unions, calling them “Sovietism in disguise.” There was also judicial lynching. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two Italians convicted of murder. Although the evidence for this was weak, they were found guilty and sentenced to death. This case shows the anti-redism and antiforeignism of the time.
Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK
2. Compare and contrast the new and old Ku Klux Klansmen.
A new Ku Klux Klan emerged in the early 1920s. It more closely resembled the anti-foreign “nativists” movements of the 1850s than the anti-black nightriders of the 1860s. This new Ku Klux Klan was anti-foreign, anti-Catholic, anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-pacifist, anti-Communist, anti-internationalist, anti-revolutionist, anti-bootlegger, antigambling, anti-adultery, and anti-birth control. It was also pro-Anglo-Saxon, pro-“native” American, and pro-Protestant.
Stemming the Foreign Flood
Know: Emergency Quota Act, Immigration Act
3. Describe the immigration laws passed in the 1920's.
Immigrants began flooding into America after the end of World War I. However, isolationist America had little use for them. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 restricted newcomers from Europe to a definite quota, which was set at 3 percent of the people of their nationality who had been living in the United States in 1910. This legislation was replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924, which cut Quotes for foreigners from 3 percent to 2 percent. This act marked the end of a period of virtually unrestricted immigration.
Makers of America: The Poles
Know: Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, Austrian Poles, American Warsaw
4. What factors led Poles to America?
The Poles were the largest groups to immigrate to American because labor was badly needed after the Civil War. First Poles came from James town. The Poles came in the late nineteenth century to escape from starvation and earn money to buy land. Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, and Austrian Poles were persecuted and escaped to America for religious freedom. Propaganda and transportation also made many poles come to the US.
The Prohibition "Experiment"
Know: Eighteenth Amendment, Volstead Act, Wet and Dry, Speakeasies, Home Brew, Bathtub Gin, Noble Experiment
5. How and why was the eighteenth amendment broken so frequently?
The Eighteenth Amendment, implemented by the Volstead Act, prohibited the consumption and sale of alcohol. This abolition of alcohol was popular in the South and the West. However, there was strong opposition in larger eastern cities. For many foreign-born people, social gatherings were centered on drinking. Assuming that the prohibition had come to stay, many Americans indulged in last wild flings. The Eighteenth Amendment was broken frequently because of the American tradition of strong drink and of weak control by the central government. The federal authorities never satisfactorily enforced a law where the majority of people were hostile to it. Prohibition was not effectively enforced. Many Americans were still drinking liquor and much alcohol was being smuggled into America from other countries.
The Golden Age of Gangsterism
Know: Al Capone, St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Lindbergh Law
6. What was Gangsterism?
Prohibition spawned shocking crimes and gangsterism emerged. Police made many profits from bribes for drink illegal alcohol. This started violent wars in cities between rival gangs. Arrests were few and convictions were even fewer. Chicago was home to Al Capone, a violent booze distributor. He made millions and had to walk around in an armor plated car with bulletproof windows. He was public Enemy Number 1 but he was not convicted on the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. Crimes got so bad that Congress had to pass the Lindbergh Law which made interstate abduction a death-penalty.
Monkey Business in Tennessee
Know: John Dewey, John T. Scopes, William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow
7. Describe the clash of cultures that took place in schools in the 1920's.
Biology and theology clashed in schools in the 1920’s. Fundamentalists, devoted religionists, were hostile to both science and progressive education. They charged that some of the science teachings were destroying faith in God and the Bible, while contributing to the moral breakdown of youth in the jazz age. They attempted to secure laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution. Three states adopted such laws.
The Mass-Consumption Economy
Know: Andrew Mellon, The Man Nobody Knows, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey
8. Give evidence to prove that America became a mass-consumption economy in the 20's.
Great new industries sprouted forth in the 1920’s. Supplying electrical power for new machines became a giant business at the time. Automobiles became the normal means of transportation. Advertisement of commercial goods became common. Advertisers sought to make Americans chronically discontented with their possessions and want more, more, more. Sports also became big business in the consumer economy of the 1920s. Buying on credit was another innovative feature of the postwar economy. People began buying all sorts of new products such as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and radios.
Putting America on Rubber Tires
Know: Henry Ford, Frederick W. Taylor, Model T
9. What methods made it possible to mass-produce automobiles?
Assembly line methods and mass production techniques allowed for mass production of automobiles. Americans first adapted the gasoline engine. By the 1890s, several American inventors and promoters developed the new automotive industry. By 1910, there were 69 car companies that produced about 181,000 automobiles a year. At first the method of producing cars was slow and unreliable. However, an enormous industry sprand into being as Detroit became the motorcar capital of America. Frederick W. Taylor developed techniques that saved time and eliminated wasted motion. Henry Ford’s Model T was cheap, rugged, and reasonably priced. Ford was able to mass produce Model T using the techniques of assembly-line production, or “Fordism.”
The Advent of the Gasoline Age
10. What were the effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile?
With the widespread adoption of the automobile was the emergence of a gigantic new industry. This new automobile industry employed about 6 million people and was the major wellspring of the nation’s prosperity. Thousands of new jobs were available by supporting industries such as rubber, glass, favrics, high way construction, and service stations and garages. America’s standard of living also increased. New industries also boomed, such as the petroleum business. However, the railroad industry suffered from the widespread adoption of the automobile. Speedy marketing of perishable foodstuffs was accelerated. Farms prospered, food prices were low and reasonable, and new roads were built. Motorcars became a necessity to travel. There was more time for leisure, isolation among sections were broken down, and women became less dependent on men.
Humans Develop Wings
Know: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh
11. What effects did the early airplane have on America?
Early airplanes led to aircraft which was invented by Orville and Wilbur Wright. They were also used in wars and airmail. Charles A Lindbergh was the first person to fly across the Atlantic from New York To Paris. Airship led to easier air travel. The airship also provided the restless American spirit with yet another dimension. It also gave birth to a giant new industry.
The Radio Revolution
12. How did America change as the result of the radio?
The radio innovated long-range communication during World War 1. Next came the voice radio which led to radio stations such KDKA to broadcast news. It also made families come closer to listen to the radio every night. Sports and Politicians now advertised through the radio.
Hollywood's Filmland Fantasies
Know: The Great Train Robbery, The Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer
13. What were some milestones in the history of motion pictures?
Thomas Edison invented the movie in the 1890s. The real birth of movie came in 1903 when the melodrama, The Great Train Robbery, was showing in theatre. This also led to the movie, The Birth of a Nation, which glorified the KKK. Southern California quickly became the movie capital of the World.
The Dynamic Decade
Know: Margaret Sanger, Flappers, Sigmund Freud, Jelly Roll Morton, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey
14. "Far-reaching changes in lifestyles and values paralleled the dramatic upsurge in the economy." Explain.
Americans no longer lived in countryside but more in urban areas. Women found opportunists in cities such as retail clerking and office typing. Margaret Sanger was a feminist that organized birth-control. Alice Paul National Woman’s party started in 1923 to get equal rights for women. Flappers were involved with the erotic eruptions. Sigmund Freud said sex was responsible to health and liberation.
Cultural Liberation
Know: H. L. Mencken, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, e.e. cummings, Eugene O'Neill, Louis Armstrong, Frank Lloyd Wright
15. How did the arts of the 1920's reflect the times?
1920s was a time where the old generation died. New novelists became more popular. HL. Mencken was a young author who attacked puritans. F Scott Fitzgerald was an overnight celebrity because of his book, The Great Gatsby. Ernest Hemingway wrote about the war as well as William Faulkner. Eugene Oneil won the Nobel Prize for his notions about sex.
Wall Street's Big Bull Market
Know: Margin, Andrew Mellon
16. Was government economic policy successful in the 20's?
The stock exchange increased speculation and boom-or-bust trading. People bought stocks with margins or small down payments. They could win up to a quarter of a million dollars. Andrew Mellon helped created a series of tax reductions that repealed many taxes. He was called the great treasurer after Hamilton.